Phone Calls and Hairballs
by Phx
Summary: “Daddy?” My little blond boy sounded so small, my heart broke. “I can’t find them,” he sniffed, “where are they? Where are Mommy and Frankie?” A wee-Hardy one shot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own or make money from the Hardy Boys; I just enjoy playing in their sandbox.**

**Acknowledgments: Thank you to Alaina for a wonderful beta, as always; and thank you to Sheila for daring to bare her behind in public and giving us all a much needed laugh. And I know she is blushing right now!**

**A wee-Hardy story :) **

**Phone Calls and Hairballs**

"_A cat has hairballs." _

Those were the first words spoken to me when I answered my cell phone and I frowned at the randomness of the statement. I was on a stakeout with my partner and best bud, Sam Radley and answered the vibrating nuisance, recognizing the number as my own home number. I had thought it was going to be my darling, Laura, but that was not her voice. In fact…

"Frank?" It _sounded_ like Joe but the four-year-old didn't know my cell number.

"_No, silly_," came a bubbly voice. _"It's Joey!"_

Or maybe he did…

"Joey?" I frowned.

"_Yes, Daddy."_

Or maybe his older brother dialed it for him. "Is Frank there?" Not that I didn't want to speak to my youngest but I needed to figure things out first, like where Frank and Laura were. I know they wouldn't leave Joe by himself but still…

"_No,"_ Joe giggled.

"No?"

"_Daddy, are you getting deaf?" _

"Going," I corrected. "Are you going deaf?"

"_No – are you?" _

"What?"

More giggling and I rolled my eyes, trusting Sam to keep a watch out for our suspect as I went a couple of rounds with my youngest. Thankfully we were only investigating a suspected case of insurance fraud so I could indulge the little boy a bit as we waited for Mr. Totally Disabled to come outside and finish re-shingling his house.

"_What, what?"_

"Joey, where is your brother?" I ignored the amused look on my partner's face.

"_I dunno."_ Came the unexpected answer.

"Is Mommy there?" I tried another angle.

"_No." _

A sliver of unease had me frowning. "Joey, where is Mommy?"

"_I don't know."_ The four-year-old admitted. It did nothing to help.

My grip on the phone tightened. "Who is there with you?"

"_I'm by myself." _

Three words never struck so much fear in any man's heart before. I doubled checked the phone to ensure myself that my baby _was_ calling from the house. He was. Thank God, for small favors.

"Joey, is Mommy in the yard?" I wasn't totally ready to panic yet. Did I mention, I've only been a father for just over five years?

"_Hold on,"_ my little boy told me and I heard him put down the phone as he ran to check first the front yard - I heard the little security chime on the door as he opened it - _"Mommy? Frankie?"_ And then he was running to the back door. "_Mommy? Frankie? You out here?"_

"Joey?"

"_They're not here!"_ For the first time, the child sounded scared; his breathing heavy, his voice tear-laden. I could easily imagine his wide blue eyes and trembling lip. _"Daddy – no one's home!" _

"Are you sure?" I knew for a fact my beautiful wife would never leave either of the boys alone. "Maybe they're upstairs, or in the laundry room…" Sam's attention was on me, his gaze questioning, his family as much as my own. "You go check, Daddy'll be right here."

Again the phone was put down and I heard Joe calling for his mother and older brother as he searched the house. My heart pounded hard, my own breathing quickening as I wished I was home right now. _Where are Laura and Frank? Has something happened to them?_ I just could not imagine any good way to explain their absence and the longer Joe took getting back to the phone, the more vivid my worries become. My mind was just too fertile with ideas.

"Fenton?" Sam asked so many questions with that one word and I was torn… I had a job to do but – but my family –

"Hold on." I didn't mean to sound so terse but why was it taking Joey so long to get back to the phone? The house wasn't that big…

"_Daddy?"_ My little blond boy sounded so small, my heart broke. _"I can't find them_," he sniffed, _"where are they? Where are Mommy and Frankie?"_

"Daddy's coming right home-" Sam turned on the car and pulled away from the curb without me asking and I was never more grateful to have my best friend as my partner right then. "It's okay, Joey, I want you to go to Daddy's office, lock the door and you can sit in Daddy's chair, okay?" That was always a special treat for the boys, "You wait and I'll be there, baby, I promise. Right there."

"_Can I spin in the chair?"_ There was awe in the little voice and I rathered that than the tearful fear from moments before. Thank God kids were easy to distract. Well that Joey was anyways.

"Yeah, kiddo," I watched the scenery blur by as Sam drove hard to get me home. "You can spin." Normally I didn't like the boys to do that but this was hardly normal.

"_Okay! Bye, Daddy!"_ And before I could tell him not to, Joe hung up the phone.

"Damnit!" I growled quickly dialing the separate number I used for my office line and hoped the kid would pick up, knowing in my heart that he wouldn't. Both he and Frank knew that phone was for my business calls only.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

Four –

I hung up and dialed back.

Sam glanced at me, "Fenton?" he asked again.

One ring.

"Joey's home alone."

Two rings.

"Laura and Frank are missing."

Three rin-

"_Hello? Daddy's phone." _

For a second I was too stunned to say anything; Joey had answered.

"_Hello?"_

Like an idiot I asked, "What are you doing answering my phone?"

"_Oh hi Daddy_." Unaffected by my tone, I could almost see the smile I heard in my son's voice. "_It was ringing_!"

Thankfully we weren't far from home but I've never felt such relief before as when Sam took the corner and started to drive up my street. But then Sam was slamming on the brakes. Before I could even ask, I saw what he had. There, across the street, hurrying from house to house was a very shaken looking Laura, Frank's hand tightly grasped in her own.

"Laura!" I yelled, for a moment forgetting I was talking to Joe. Sam, totally way too awesome guy that he was, grabbed my cell phone and I heard him starting to talk to Joey, even as I hurried from the car and towards my wife and older son.

"Oh Fenton!" My blond beauty almost sobbed as she threw herself into my arms, pulling Frank in with her. Immediately my arms wrapped tightly around my distraught family and I held them tight.

"Shhh, baby," I cooed. And yes I'm comfortable enough with my masculinity to do things like 'coo'. "It's okay, you're safe. It's okay now."

"But it's not!" I wasn't used to seeing my normally calm wife so upset. I glanced down at Frank to make sure he was okay but other than looking like he'd been crying, the kid seemed fine. I loosed them from my hold and gently wiped away the wetness on my son's face, my heart pounding for justice against whatever had put those tears there. "Joey's missing!"

I blinked in shock. "Huh?" Okay perhaps not the most eloquently worded, but it was the best I could come up with at the moment.

"Joey," Laura gripped my arm so tightly I winced. Man, that woman was strong. "I can't find him. I was only down in the basement putting in the laundry but when I came back upstairs, he was gone!"

_Gone?_

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Frank's voice was shy and unsure, sounding nothing like the stalwart five-year-old I'd eaten breakfast with. It broke my heart. "We were playing hide'n'seek and Joey went outside." The little boy's bottom lip trembled and I frowned.

"Joey went outside?"

Frank nodded his head, his eyes welling up with new tears. "I heard the bell on the front door and I ran as fast I could but he was gone, Daddy! Just gone! I'm so sorry!" Pulling the sobbing child in tight, I crouched down and wrapped my arms tightly around Frank. My heart ached for him knowing how seriously he took his job as a big brother.

"It's okay," I assured him, breathing in the scent of coconut shampoo. I looked up at my distraught wife. "Joey's okay. He's at home."

"Fenton?" Laura's voice was tentatively hopeful.

"Yeah, kid must have pretended to go outside to throw you off where he was hiding," I assured my son. Being a great detective came in handy sometimes as I could easily imagine what my crafty little blond might have been playing at. He loved playing hide'n'seek with Frank but hated being found too quickly (tyke was a wee bit competitive even at his tender age) which, thanks in part to Joe's sucky hiding spots, Frank always did. "He's in my office now," I added, squeezing Frank a little bit more and then letting him go, "spinning in my chair." That brought a smile to my little brunette's face.

"Really?"

"Yup," I nodded my head and then turned back to the car where I was relieved to see Sam talking animatedly into the phone. "Sam's talking to him right now."

"Oh thank goodness." Laura reached for me again, wrapping her slender arms around my waist and giving me a soft hug. I felt my insides turn to mush. Thank God I carried a gun or I'd have no manliness left at this moment. I returned the hug and gave her a grin.

"C'mon," I told them, "let's go home."

Although the house wasn't far, we all piled into the car anyways, eager to get back and see Joe for ourselves. Sam held out the phone but instead of talking to my little boy this time, I passed it to the kid's big brother, basking in the smile on Frank's face as he basically latched onto the phone.

"Hey," Sam asked with a smirk as he waited until everyone had their seatbelts on and then pulled back onto the street. "Did you know that cats have hairballs?"

The End


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